


never more will the rain

by kyrilu



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Character Study, Gen, M/M, Parallels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 15:26:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9331457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyrilu/pseuds/kyrilu
Summary: He promises them freedom.





	

Ariana had climbed out of the window to see the rain. She was in the garden among the shrubbery, her light hair and white petticoat a contrast to the green bushes.

Gellert was standing by the window waiting for Albus’ next owl, when he saw her descent. Ariana--Albus’ younger sister. It was rare to see her outside her room, rarer outside the house, and it was always startling to remember that she was only two years younger than him, because she seemed younger.

Albus’ letter, Gellert decided, would have to wait. He closed his eyes and Apparated, and when he opened them, he was greeted by the fall of rain. He didn’t mind the rain much, and he couldn’t help but stand there as it dripped through the curls of his blond hair, down his face and his neck and his shoulders.

But then the moment passed. Gellert took out his wand and cast a silent spell that created an umbrella-like barrier over his head.

He made his way through the underbrush, taking slow and careful steps in the mud.

“Are you alright, Ariana?” he called. “I’m Albus’ friend. Gellert.”

She poked her head out from the leaves, then retreated once again. “Are you here to take me back?”

She had a quiet voice. There was a rusted, raspy quality to it, as if she was unused to speaking--and of course, she was.

“Not immediately,” Gellert said, shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t think your brothers want you to get sick, _Mausi._ But I like the rain, too. We can sit here for awhile.”

She nodded. There was a wariness in the way she regarded Gellert, and he made sure not to make any sudden movements toward her, giving her space. He settled into a crouching position on the grass, his wand dropped onto his lap, forgotten, with the rain rushing, streaming from the clouds above, and touching his skin again.

“When I was four years old,” he said in a murmur, almost as soft as the rain, “I made my first prophecy. I can’t remember it now, but my mother told me about it later. I walked up to a window and I said, _Rain._ And it did.”

Ariana didn’t reply, but Gellert could feel her searching gaze on him. She had her brother’s curiosity.

“Not much of a prophecy, is it?” Gellert said with a quiet laugh. “Weather forecasting charms are more regular and reliable. To be a Seer--to be a Seer and a child--it wasn’t a normal childhood, _Mausi._ I know what it’s like to be a magically powerful child and scared.”

He continued talking. His voice was rising, more like thunder now than rain. Ariana was still staring at him, her forehead speckled with raindrops, a single leaf from the bushes caught in her hair.

“The Inner Eye came from my mother’s side of the family,” Gellert said. “When she died, my father didn’t quite know what to do with me. I felt like his secret. Someone he was ashamed of. Sometimes I broke out into dazed rambling fits. I had nightmares that left me shaken. The future can be a terrifying thing--the things I See. The things I want to prevent.”

He smiled, and he held one of his hands through the branches and leaves. She didn’t take it. She said, “Aberforth said that you and Albus are talking about impossible things. He says that Albus should stay here and you should go home.”

The thought of separation with Albus was almost painful, even if it had only been two months. Aberforth Dumbledore was a foolish little boy. Gellert managed to stop himself from sneering just in time.

“No,” he said. And when he turned his head, he saw Albus watching a few paces way, his eyes wide, his wand projecting an invisible umbrella over his head. Albus--clothed in dark robes, his long red hair fluttering from the wind, his half-moon spectacles blotted with rain.

“No,” Gellert said again, more firmly. “When Aberforth goes back to school, you shall travel with me and Albus. I know what you are, Ariana--an Obscurial, one of the oldest in history. You don’t deserve to be locked up any longer.”

\--she shuddered, her eyes blinked white--

“We will make a world where you can be safe and free,” he said, simply, clearly.

He felt her finally reach back, her hand clasping his. “I wonder,” she said quietly, “what else is out there. Our mother used to live far away, a different place from here. She told us stories about the rivers--the green trees--the fish and the birds. She used to sing to me in a different language.”

And this girl accidentally killed her own mother. Albus moved closer in the underbrush, and he gave Gellert a look of caution. There was something muted and pained in his eyes. Gellert took Albus’ hand, too, and squeezed it.

“Gellert is right, Ariana,” Albus said. His voice was unwavering and steady. “You’ll come travel with us, and we’ll watch over you. The three of us.”

Ariana let out a laugh. Gellert started; he had never heard her laugh before throughout the summer.  “I saw you packing, Albus. Books and candy. Do you think you can live on only that?”

“He certainly does,” Gellert said, wry. “That’s why I’m coming. I’ll make sure he doesn’t expire from an excess of sweets, and I’ll tell him to leave his horrifically colored robes at home. Violet and green stripes, I have no idea what he was thinking--”

“Hush, Gellert.”

“Don’t ruin his fun,” Ariana said to her brother. “I can tell why you love him.”

They had been keeping silent the true nature of their relationship, but it _was_ rather obvious. The word _love_ , however, had yet to come up.

Albus looked flustered. “I do not--”

Gellert smirked, and he pressed a rain wet kiss against Albus’ cheek. “I’m a Seer, remember? I already know.”

“You don’t have to be a Seer to tell,” Ariana said, rolling her eyes. And for a brief moment, she looked exactly like an ordinary fourteen year old girl, instead of the shrinking creature Gellert had glimpsed hiding in the shadows of her home. He could see her as a part of a newer and brighter world, an Obscurial, rare and confident, while he and Albus had the Hallows of Death in their possession.

 

* * *

 

The first smile he coaxes out of Credence Barebone happens during their first dinner together in the quiet diner. Transfigured into the form of Percival Graves, Gellert reaches his hand to brush Credence's hand from across the table.

He promises Credence a better life, a better world; he laughingly and gently corrects the boy’s misconceptions on magic. No, there is no divine force that prevents witches and wizards from praying, although magical society has no official religion. No, there is no black book of the devil that witches and wizards must sign. Witches and wizards do not deal with the devil at all.

In demonstration, Gellert takes the wilting flower from its glass on the table. He brings it back to life through Transfiguration, wandlessly, easily, and Credence looks at it in wonder and smiles.

He wonders why he thinks of Ariana Dumbledore in the rain.


End file.
